Guwahati: A 22-year-old Gauhati University student was found dead in a homestay on the city’s outskirts, sparking a murder probe after her family alleged she was gang-raped and killed, even as police have arrested her 26-year-old boyfriend.
Nimisha Thakuria was discovered in a critical condition at a homestay in Garal on Saturday and later declared brought dead at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), prompting investigators to treat the case as a suspected homicide.
Distress Calls Before Death
Her father told the media the death was not suicide but a sexual assault followed by murder, pointing to injury marks on her body.
“It was a gangrape case because her body have marks. She was gang-raped before she was killed,” her father told reporters on Sunday morning.
He said Nimisha left home around 5 pm on Friday, telling her family she was going out to eat with friends.
At about 10 pm, she called her mother to say she would stay overnight at the university hostel with a friend as it was already late.
Family Cites Injury Marks, Alleges Gang-Rape
In the early hours of Saturday, the family received alarming calls from her.
“At around 2 am, she rang her mother and told that she was badly beaten. After saying that her call was disconnected. Before killing my daughter, they gang-raped her,” he said.
He claimed she was tied up with ropes before she died.
“The marks on her body tells that she was tortured before she was murdered,” he said.
He also recounted another late-night call in which his daughter told her mother, “They will kill me,” before her phone was “probably snatched”.
Police Treat Case As Suspected Murder
The detained boyfriend, named in reports as Asif Ali, has told police that Nimisha died by suicide, allegedly by hanging herself from a ceiling fan inside the homestay room.
Both the family and investigators have rejected this account.
“We don’t believe his version. We need to continue our investigation,” Guwahati West Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bolin Deori had told NDTV.
“The inquiry is in the preliminary stage. And we suspect this as a kind of murder,” he said, adding, “We haven’t found blood on the body or the floor, and our investigation is on.”
Deori said that in the early hours of Saturday, three youths brought Nimisha to the Azara Primary Health Centre in an unconscious state. She was subsequently referred to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), where medical staff declared her brought dead.
He added that police are now interrogating the homestay owner, caretakers and other employees as part of the ongoing investigation.